Roraima has 22% of the fire outbreaks across the country

With 2,295 hot spots, the state of Roraima ranks first in the entire country, accounting alone for more than 22% of the hot spots registered in Brazil. According to data from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), from January until last Thursday (22), the country had 7,957 hot spots. In February alone, 1,691 active outbreaks were recorded by Inpe fire program satellites in Roraima. Of this total, more than 1,000 were registered this week alone.

Hot spots are places with high temperatures, susceptible to being affected by fires. Currently, Roraima has 8 of the 10 municipalities in Brazil with the highest number of hot spots, according to Inpe. The city of Mucajaí has ​​the highest number of outbreaks, 277; followed by Caracaraí (264), Amajari (224), Rorainópolis (180), Iracema (114), Boa Vista (107), Alto Alegre (106) and Bonfim (97).

The state is going through a period of severe drought, worsened by the influence of the El Niño phenomenon. Three municipalities have already declared an emergency: Amajari, Uiramutã and Normandia.

Controlled fires

The Roraima Fire Department points to the local practice of setting fires to “clean” the land as one of the factors that worsen the situation, as the fire can get out of control. On Wednesday, the general commander of the corporation, Colonel Anderson Carvalho, visited the municipality of Amajari, in the region that covers the towns of Vila Nova and Vila do Trairão. The objective was to guide residents on prevention and safety measures in the face of forest fires in the region.

“Today, we have six teams distributed across four points, fighting the fires. We advise the population not to burn, because at this time, with strong winds, dry vegetation and high temperatures, it is very difficult to control. So, it’s better to avoid it”, said the commander on a social network.

Calamity

The situation caused the Legislative Assembly to send an indication to the government of Roraima to declare a state of public calamity and emergency situation due to the advance of the fires. According to the vice-president of the Legislative Assembly, Marcelo Cabral (Citizenship), the initiative aims to seek support from state institutions to mitigate the damage caused by the fires.

“Faced with this alarming scenario, of extreme drought and long-lasting drought, Roraima is in a state of environmental emergency, and it is, therefore, this parliamentarian's responsibility to request information on a possible plan to strengthen the fight against fires and data on its initial execution, with reference to human and material resources already in the field”, said Cabral.

The Agência Brasil report contacted the government of Roraima to find out what measures to combat hot spots are being adopted, but so far has not received any feedback.

On February 6, the Ministry of the Environment declared a state of environmental emergency for the risk of forest fires in Roraima between the months of September 2024 and April 2025. The state is already under alert from the ministry for forest fires until April 2024 .